1967 Buick Grand Sport 400 - Improve Your Car's Ride And Handling

In recent years, makers of air bag suspension systems have waged a highly effective campaign to earn credibility among misinformed skeptics. The nay-sayers are haunted by the misguided assumption that air suspension is for tubby boulevard cruisers and 18-wheelers-not performance cars. While this used to be a valid assessment, it's totally out to lunch in the modern arena.

The big difference is that today's air-spring systems-like those offered by Air Ride Technologies-are complete kits that come with specifically matched springs, shock absorbers, sway bars, and, perhaps most importantly, fabricated suspension control arms and spindles with revised geometry to maximize the handling benefit caused by the altered ride height. Add it all together and the result is a unique combination of improved suspension geometry (for maximized tire contact and adhesion) and reduced body roll, but with the air-only benefits of a smoother ride and the ability to adjust ride height to suit your tastes.

To spread the good word, Air Ride Technologies has gone so far as to sponsor an annual Street Challenge event where drivers are invited to compare their standard metal-sprung cars against cars riding on air. These events are held at Putnam Park Road Course in Greencastle, Indiana-a 1.8 mile road course featuring 10 unforgiving turns. At the '06 event, professional road racer Boris Said generated an amazing 1.1 g in an Air Ride-equipped '67 Chevelle wearing a set of BFGoodrich G-Force tires. His best lap time around the course was 32.23 seconds. Then he jumped into a similar Chevelle-sitting on its stock Super Sport metal coil spring suspension-and ran the circuit in 37.36 seconds, 5 seconds slower.

So there's little doubt that air suspension has arrived. But how easy is it to install? To find out, Rodney Mason and Brad Coomer descended on CC publisher John Gallagher's daily-driven '67 Buick Gran Sport 400. We followed along and were surprised at how it's a pretty basic change-out operation where it's out with the old, in with the new.

At just over $6,000, the complete Street Challenge package shown here can't really be considered a budget bolt-on, but if you're looking for a track tested (and proven) suspension system that delivers a better ride than metal-based counterparts and lets you play with different ride height settings for enhanced cornering-or just bitchin' stance-look no further. And remember, though this installation centers on the STR2000 kit for '64-'67 GM A-bodies, Street Challenge kits are also available for '68-'72 GM A-bodies, Tri-Five Chevys, '58-'64 X-frame Chevys, '62-'74 Novas, '67-'81 Camaros, '78-'88 GM G-bodies, '63-'06 Chevy pickup trucks, and all '64-'70 and '79-'04 Mustangs.

This '67 Buick belongs to CC publisher John Gallagher. He scored it for 4K off the street. So far, he has only blown up the engine once.
This '67 Buick belongs to CC publisher John Gallagher. He scored it for 4K off the street
Starting at the front of the car, Air Ride's Brad Coomer removed the entire suspension assembly using a floor jack to safely release the coil springs. We're keeping the stock front disc brakes-for now-so the calipers were simply detached and hung out of the way with no need to break into the hydraulic system.
Starting at the front of the car, Air Ride's Brad Coomer removed the entire suspension ass
The stock coil spring pockets must be trimmed to fit the larger diameter of the air springs. Air Ride Technologies' Rodney Mason used a pneumatic cutoff wheel to get the job done. Does the trimming weaken the area? Rod says, "No way. There are so many overlapping bits of metal here, it makes no impact on strength." Just be sure to make curved cuts and avoid hard 90-degree intersections between cuts that could form stress risers.
The stock coil spring pockets must be trimmed to fit the larger diameter of the air spring

Here's a comparison of the stock Buick front suspension goodies and the Air Ride replacements. The tubular Strong Arms are fabricated from mild steel and feature polyurethane bushings and heavy-duty ball joints. When measured, the new parts are nearly twice as resistant to load flex than the stock stampings, but weigh about the same.
Here's a comparison of the stock Buick front suspension goodies and the Air Ride replaceme
It is crucial to ensure that the Shockwave air springs can't come into contact with the trimmed edges of the frame pockets. If you can't slide a finger between the rubber bladder and the nearest bit of metal, they're too close. A little tweaking of the trimmed edge with a wrench finished the job.
It is crucial to ensure that the Shockwave air springs can't come into contact with the tr
The upper control arm, air spring, and lower control arm bolted in place without drama. We love that there's no hassling with a coil spring compressor. If the installation team looks familiar, that's because both Rodney (shown) and Brad are regulars on the hit TV show Overhaulin'. If there's an Air Ride Technologies suspension added to the subject vehicle, these guys show up to install it.
The upper control arm, air spring, and lower control arm bolted in place without drama. We

The kit includes custom forged G-Force spindles that are 2 inches taller and feature a 2-inch drop. The scheme ensures a proper camber pattern under a wide range of ride height settings so the tire contact patch remains maximized. The greasy stock spindle went into the scrap bin.
The kit includes custom forged G-Force spindles that are 2 inches taller and feature a 2-i
With the front suspension assembled, the spindle gets dropped 3 inches (half of the total travel) from its fully compressed position. A digital angle finder was then mounted to the brake rotor so camber and caster settings could be made. On power-steering A-bodies like this Buick, Rod likes 3 to 5 degrees of positive caster,1/2 to 1 degree of negative camber, and 1/16 to 1/8 inch of toe-in. On manual-steer A-bodies, Rod sets caster at 0 degrees to decrease low-speed steering effort. All these settings must be done by a competent alignment shop on modern equipment. If you're lacking, it is OK to temporarily set it all to zero-using the digital angle finder and with the suspension dropped 3 inches-then drive the car to a good alignment shop ASAP for adjustment. Resist temptation to drive anywhere else; misalignment can wreck the front rubber in a jiffy.
With the front suspension assembled, the spindle gets dropped 3 inches (half of the total
The Street Challenge kit includes a tubular 11/4-inch Muscle Bar front sway bar with trick Posi-Link end links. Compared with the stock-type rubber-bushed end link (left), the C6 Corvette-inspired Posi-Link features encased ball joints on each end and is virtually solid. The result is that the roll bar reacts instantly to body roll. By contrast, rubber-bushed end links compress momentarily and delay the onset of roll bar influence. Great for boulevard ride, bad for maximum suspension performance.
The Street Challenge kit includes a tubular 11/4-inch Muscle Bar front sway bar with trick

The optional Level Pro self-leveling feature uses vehicle ride height sensors at each corner. The sensors contain an electrical rheostat that sends a variable chemical signal from 0-5 volts to the ECU, which then signals air valves to feed air from the onboard air reservoir to maintain-or alter-vehicle ride height as needed. The total range of adjustment is 6 inches. The sensors must be affixed to the frame with the suspension at midtravel (3 inches from full compression). The end links between the upper control arm and sensor lever are made from flexible synthetic rubber for easy mounting. The system runs at 130 to 150 psi and uses a combination of hard Teflon air feed lines and brass fittings to route the air.
The optional Level Pro self-leveling feature uses vehicle ride height sensors at each corn
The front Shockwave air-spring units feature built-in shock absorbers with dual damping adjustment knobs. Each knob has 16 individual settings and between them, 256 compression/rebound combinations are possible. Rod says the best place to start is to set the compression knob at 3 and the rebound knob at 8.
The front Shockwave air-spring units feature built-in shock absorbers with dual damping ad
At the rear of the car, the stock coil springs dropped right out after the shock absorbers were removed. It is best to swap one control arm at a time rather than pull all four and deal with a flopping rear axle as you work.
At the rear of the car, the stock coil springs dropped right out after the shock absorbers

Like the front control arms, the Street Challenge kit includes superior tubular steel replacements. A major cause of axle hop on GM A-bodies is flexing of the stock U-channel control arms and bushing compression. Strong Arms feature 0.188 wall thickness and polyurethane bushings for rigidity. The tubular upper control arms are more compact than OE arms, yielding added clearance for large-diameter exhaust pipes in this chronically tight area.
Like the front control arms, the Street Challenge kit includes superior tubular steel repl
The control arm installation was very straightforward.
If your A-body is a Buick, Olds, or Pontiac, chances are the rear axle is a BOP-style 10-bolt with capped coil spring pads. They must be decapitated as shown to accept the bottom end of the rear air spring. Chevy-sourced '64-'66 10- and 12-bolt axles feature flat spring pads that are good to go without slicing.
If your A-body is a Buick, Olds, or Pontiac, chances are the rear axle is a BOP-style 10-b

The stock rear coil springs gave way to Cool Ride air springs with separate adjustable shock absorbers. The upper ends of the air springs fit into the frame pockets and are retained by large cotter pins so they can't drop out during assembly. Once they're in place, it's simple to lift the axle with a jack and install the rear shocks so they are trapped in position.
The stock rear coil springs gave way to Cool Ride air springs with separate adjustable sho
Like the Shockwave air spring / shock absorber combinations used at the front suspension, the individual rear shock absorbers supplied with the Street Challenge kit feature dual 16-position compression / rebound adjustment knobs. Get started by setting the compression knob (left) at 1 and the rebound knob (right) at 3.
Like the Shockwave air spring / shock absorber combinations used at the front suspension,
Part of the Street Challenge recipe for superior handling is a 1-inch solid steel Muscle Bar rear sway bar. It bolts directly to the lower control arms and works in conjunction with the front sway bar to fight body roll in hard corners.
Part of the Street Challenge recipe for superior handling is a 1-inch solid steel Muscle B

The rear ride height sensors mount between the frame and lower control arms. Like the front sensors, they must be mounted so the lever is at midstroke when the rear suspension is 3 inches up from fully bottomed out.
The rear ride height sensors mount between the frame and lower control arms. Like the fron
The beautiful part is how the air compressor, reservoir tank, ECU, air feed valves, and solenoids are all permanently mounted to the self- contained Air Pod module. Just bolt it to the trunk floor over the rear axle, plumb it to the air feed lines running to each corner of the suspension, and you're good to go.
The beautiful part is how the air compressor, reservoir tank, ECU, air feed valves, and so
Ride height tuning is done by pushing buttons on the VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) control panel. You can store your three favorite ride heights and with the push of a button, toggle between them at will. Best of all, the remote control key fob controller (bottom) lets you adjust ride height settings from a distance. It's just like magic.
Ride height tuning is done by pushing buttons on the VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) cont

With the air springs fully pumped up, ride height is about an inch higher than stock. Rolling stock on this Buick GS consists of Boyds 17x8 front and 17x9.5 rear wheels with 4.25- and 5.50-inch backspacing, respectively. They're shod with Toyo Proxes T1R tires, size 265/40ZR17 rear, 255/45ZR17 front.
With the air springs fully pumped up, ride height is about an inch higher than stock. Roll
At the lowest setting, the body settles 6 inches for a bitchin' slammed-in-the-weeds look. Typical street and track operation is best with the ride set right in the middle. Of course, it is entirely up to you to make sure that your particular wheel and tire combination has sufficient body and frame clearance at all suspension settings and steering angles. On our Buick, the big 17-inch hoops were OK at the rear, but the front tires hit the front fender lips at the lowest settings, so that'd be purely for static display. As the stance increased, we got more full-lock front tire clearance but were only fully safe at maximum ride height. Adding 1/2 inch of front wheel backspacing and slightly smaller tires would solve these issues on our car. Yo, Gallagher, order up another set of front hoops!
At the lowest setting, the body settles 6 inches for a bitchin' slammed-in-the-weeds look.